But Dunedin schools appear to be supporting the pupil-organised School Strike 4 Climate rally in the Octagon on March 15.
The event is one of many being held across the country, where pupils walk out of classes to tell politicians to take them seriously and start treating climate change as a crisis and the biggest threat to their generation.
Otago Secondary Principals' Association chairwoman and Bayfield High School principal Judith Forbes said walking out of class without permission to go to a political rally was truancy.
But this event was a noble cause and it was difficult not to praise the pupils for showing passion for the environment.
"We've got mixed feelings about it. Because of that, we've had meetings with our enviro prefects who are helping to organise the event.
"We have quite a strong enviro group within our school and our thinking is, if young people are going to take political action, they need to be assured that what they are going to do is likely to have a tangible impact on somebody, other than just upsetting people about them not being at school.
"`It needs to be something organised - there needs to be a speaker, a petition that can be presented to someone.''
She said the school wanted to work alongside the organisers to ensure what they were doing, would be heard.
"We don't want it to be just an excuse for kids who have no commitment to the environment whatsoever, to take some time off school.
She said it was not a school-run event and, while it supported the pupils' passion to raise awareness of climate change, it preferred pupils remain in class on March 15.
However, senior pupils could attend, so long as they had parental permission.
"The enviro group have been meeting with us and we're working through details about parental permission.''
Otago Girls' High School principal Linda Miller said there was a strong environmentally-focused group at the school who wanted to attend the event, but it posed challenges for the school.
"The challenge for us, of course, is that we still have to run a school and we have to ensure the safety of our students.''
However, she applauded their desire to "act to create change for good'', and said pupils could attend if they had parental permission.
The school was also working on safeguards to make sure its pupils would be safe at the event.
About 200 pupils across the city have already registered their intention to attend, and organisers said the number would grow.
The strike action is expected to start with a march down George St at noon on March 15, followed by a rally in the Octagon which would continue until about 3pm.
